‘Grandma’s recipe’ is a hallmark of quality and reflects the deep-seated links between food and our own histories. Food is personal. A necessity and a pleasure alike. It’s a habit. Food is a religion. If a change is to be successful, it needs to affect the entire value chain from start to finish – which includes consumers.
That doesn’t happen overnight. Nowadays, sushi is a standard option. Back in the 1960s, however, it was hard for people in Switzerland to imagine enjoying raw fish. ‘We need to be conscious of these timeframes,’ says Lucas Grob, CEO of Swiss Food Research.
This observation doesn’t just relate to cultural differences. Innovations, too, aren’t automatically a resounding success. ‘The technology used to make lots of meat substitutes has been around since the 1960s,’ he says. ‘And now, suddenly, it’s having its heyday.’ He can’t say whether, ultimately, this was sparked by consumers wanting the product or supermarkets selling it in the right way. Transformations are complex, and they need to come at the right moment. If they do, an insect burger, say, might just be able to fend off competition from grandma’s meatloaf. We know that change doesn’t happen solely based on the knowledge of what’s good or what’s green. ‘We know a great deal, but our actions don’t align with this,’ says Lucas Grob. And yet, all these interconnections and scope for leverage are what fascinate him about his work: ‘Innovation is a neutral area, a place where you can try out lots of different ways to overcome challenges and break new ground.’ In fact, it’s indispensable: he is absolutely certain that we can’t continue as we have been doing. The way we eat is damaging our planet. It’s unhealthy. And we throw too much food away. Fortunately, though, change is already underway.
‘Our western diet is really rather far from ideal.’
Nadina Müller, ZHAW
Small – yet tricky – steps
Even transformations that may sound easy are fraught with challenges. Sugar is a good example of this. Persistent efforts to cut down the amount of sugar in food are a complex issue: consumers want the same sensory experience – just with less sugar.
Simply leaving it out isn’t an option, as Nadina Müller explains. She heads up the research group for Food Technology at Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW), where she also lectures on food process engineering and innovation in food.
She heads up the research group for Food Technology at Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW), where she also lectures on food process engineering and innovation in food. She looks for ways to make manufacturing processes more sustainable and assess the environmental impact that results from them. She explains the challenge when it comes to reducing food’s sugar content: ‘Just think about breakfast cereals, which are 30 per cent sugar. If we want to trim this down to 20 or even 15 per cent, we need a filler that doesn’t change the product’s technical, functional and sensory properties – and that doesn’t cost any more, either.’ A balanced diet is important, however, which is why this discussion shouldn’t really revolve around one single ingredient. Alongside macronutrients, our digestive systems need many other things: fibre or secondary phytonutrients such as colourings, which function as antioxidants. Food needs to be good quality. ‘Our western diet is really rather far from ideal. We often only consume a small proportion of the raw product and frequently ignore the high-fibre parts of the plant, in particular,’ says Nadina Müller. ‘The link between fibre intake and health, in terms of various non-communicable diseases, has been explored for years. The data suggests that plant-based and high-fibre diets can help reduce the risk of a plethora of non-communicable diseases.’ As a result, it is important to find technological methods to process high-fibre raw materials into flavourful end products that the general population enjoys eating.
Insects and mushrooms
Lucas Grob also explores problems and obstacles, with the aim of developing holistic innovations for the food system. The Swiss Food Research association functions as an innovation network. Its 210 or so members come from the value chain – from the field to the brain – and span start-ups, SMEs and research groups through to NGOs. Innovation groups look for solutions that can shape transformative ideas and safeguard their success. The network primarily strives to promote innovations at an early stage, targeting areas not yet on established companies’ radars. That’s why there isn’t an innovation group looking at milk, as he explains. Instead, they focused on insects as foodstuffs before they were available from major retailers. ‘We saw a community cropping up around insects and noticed that this topic was a hotbed of activity.’ Insects haven’t quite made it onto our menus yet, but the topic has moved on. One potential use for insects is as food in sustainable fisheries. The innovation groups also look at fungal systems. ‘We’re all familiar with white button mushrooms. But what’s the next thing?’, asks Lucas Grob. Swiss Food Research’s approach always strives to include the entire value chain in its exploration of topics – ranging from where food grows, through to how the body absorbs it. As the organisation’s maxim states, the food system can only be transformed if there’s a solution for every single step along the chain. The Swiss Food Ecosystems innovation booster has been deploying this exact approach since 2021 in the hope of identifying solutions. Its work focuses on redesigning the agricultural and food systems. Supported by Innosuisse, it is managed by Swiss Food Research and the Food & Nutrition cluster. Innosuisse’s entire innovation booster programme hopes to develop 600 innovative ideas and 100 follow-on projects. All told, it has a budget of 21.3 million francs at its disposal until 2024. ‘For a transformation to succeed, we need to tackle both the start and end of the value chain,’ explains Lucas Grob. ‘It’s no good developing the perfect cell-based meat if consumers aren’t interested in it.’ Similarly, it’s important that primary production is profitable and can generate added value. Price always plays a role, too, and sustainability is also relevant – but it doesn’t exist in a vacuum. ‘Lots of standalone sustainability projects miss the mark. Recycling one kind of material or waste product doesn’t align with today’s economic realities.’ In short, the system needs to undergo holistic changes if the transformation is to be a success. The various companies along the value chain need to work collaboratively, optimising flows and cycles jointly. To do so, they need well-functioning feedback mechanisms and dialogue. Swiss Food Research believes in co-creation, and the association is a certified Living Lab. ‘These communities enable us to test out ideas at an early stage. We see trends on the horizon and can collaboratively validate them,’ says Lucas Grob. Sitting in a silent room to develop a product and presenting the finished article two years later is not a recipe for success, in his book: nobody would have been looking forward to seeing the outcome.
‘We saw a community cropping up around insects’
Lucas Grob, CEO Swiss Food Research
Knowledge isn’t enough
Slow Food Switzerland also makes substantial use of its network. As part of the international Slow Food movement, the association sees its pool of knowledge as the resource that paves the way for change. ‘In turn, we can contribute a fascinating perspective on transforming our food system,’ says Co-President Toya Bezzola.
‘It’s not just about efficiency and technology: we need a holistic approach,’ she says. In its ‘Presidia’ projects, for instance, Slow Food focuses on local, artisanal foods. ‘It’s important to preserve this knowledge and bring it to the fore,’ she adds. This knowledge might relate to a traditional product or it can be a way to discover old skills and learn new ones. ‘It doesn’t mean that we’re not looking towards the future,’ says Toya Bezzola. Tradition and innovation can exist side by side – as illustrated by plant-based cuisine. Historic plant varieties, such as broad beans, can be a healthy, non-industrial source of protein. As a result, this knowledge shouldn’t just remain in purely theoretical form: it should be brought to life, underpinning new solutions in conjunction with the organisation’s international network that covers 160 countries.
Slow Food is working hard to ensure every community is heard. This applies especially to those who have a less powerful voice in our society, particularly younger people or Indigenous communities. They’re home to lots of potential: ‘People underestimate how many active members are involved in Slow Food,’ says Laura Rod, who shares the presidency of Slow Food Switzerland with Toya Bezzola.
‘We can support them to act as multipliers within their networks.’ The network has a lot of experience and knowledge to share about dealing with food, growing and processing it and cooking it. This also includes insights into things that didn’t go so well: that way, not everyone needs to make the same mistakes. ‘If you try things out and fail, the entire network can learn from this,’ she says.
Shaming people isn’t a solution
Knowledge lays the foundations for a transformation towards a sustainable food system. Nowadays, people can be bombarded with information, marketing, pretty pictures of food. But the lovely picture doesn’t necessarily correspond to the food’s ingredients. Slow Food wants to leave consumers better equipped to pursue a responsible approach. The association is keen to educate people; this is one of Slow Food’s pillars. ‘Our markets bring pleasure to people,’ says Laura Rod. ‘This enables knowledge to be shared in a sustainable way.’ She sees ‘shaming’, often a topic of discussion in the present day, as a negative development. Pejorative statements like, ‘It was wrong of you to buy a latte in a plastic cup,’ are, in Laura Rod’s opinion, not the right way to handle the situation. No matter your individual preferences, she thinks that everyone can make a difference. ‘And together, we can move mountains,’ she says.
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‘If we want to create a new food culture, we need to reach people through dialogue.’
Laura Rod, Co-President Slow Food Switzerland
Food as our cultural heritage
WeIf you want to spark change, you need society to get involved – just as Slow Food does by preserving culinary culture. Slow Food serves as a byword for food, enjoyment, the social experience: an approach that sets the scene for change. ‘If we want to create a new food culture, we need to reach people through dialogue,’ says Laura Rod. Sharing information in theoretical form isn’t enough to make the shift towards sustainable food systems a success. Toya Bezzola firmly believes that, on its own, knowledge can’t spark change. As a result, Slow Food teams have spent years looking at how to turn this knowledge into action. Toya Bezzola asks: ‘How can we create opportunities, simply try things out and kick-start the process that leads us towards alternatives to the status quo?’ There are many ways to achieve sustainable food systems. ‘We can’t all eat unlimited amounts of meat and believe that we’ll find technological solutions to make this sustainable,’ says Nadina Müller. At the same time, we don’t all need to go vegan. Certain restrictions will be unavoidable. A willingness to adapt quickly enough will also be required. Pairing this with technological innovations is, in her eyes, a sure-fire way to create sustainable food systems. Packaging is crucial – and not just in terms of waste considerations. If consumers don’t have sufficient knowledge, they can end up being led astray. To what extent does packaging generate additional waste, and to what extent does it extend a product’s shelf life, preventing it from going off before it’s eaten? Food waste needs to be offset against packaging waste.
Selçuk Yildirim, who heads up the research group for Food Packaging at ZHAW, grapples with these issues. He wants to use the group’s findings to support the overarching concept of sustainable food. ‘As scientists, we’re used to publishing the findings of our research in academic papers,’ he says, addressing a challenge they now want to tackle with the Centre of Excellence.
This isn’t just a place to generate knowledge: the knowledge is to be shared with entire industries to boost its impact and promote sustainable development in a broader sense. The question of how they can better reach consumers is also on the table. In addition to a lack of knowledge, misinformation is also on the rise. Greenwashing is an issue in the field of packaging, too. ‘Consumers believe that packaging which looks like paper is greener – even if it’s made from plastic,’ he explains. ‘Consumers need support.’ The Menu-Sustainability Index, which ZHAW developed for rating menus, is an example of this support. ‘Of course, you’ve always got to balance the various interests at hand,’ says Nadina Müller. Consumers want ratings to be as simple as possible – but these ratings also need to accurately reflect a complex situation. The Menu-Sustainability Index is a nuanced approach to this complexity. This lays the perfect groundwork for subsequently developing targeted communication that incorporates a menu’s various aspects into the rating, particularly its environmental and health-related elements.
Overestimating the impact
These ratings help to correct misconceptions. People can develop these misconceptions around new products in particular, because they fit a trend. The sustainable impact of meat substitutes can be easily overestimated. ‘These products aren’t as sustainable as many people think,’ says Nadina Müller. ‘So much scrap material is generated during their manufacture.’ For example, if you use peas to create meat substitutes, the raw material contains around 30 per cent protein. This is what manufacturers want, and they need it to be as pure as possible. Some of the dietary fibres can be used, too. However, 50 to 60 per cent of the raw material doesn’t make its way into the meat substitute. ‘If everyone were to eat meat substitutes, there’d be a huge amount of starch left over,’ says Nadina Müller. This makes them rather less sustainable. People are looking for ways to use these kinds of waste products – or by-products – from the food industry. Nadina Müller and Selçuk Yildirim are working on a project backed by the Avina Foundation that explores how by-products can be used to create new foodstuffs or packaging. Switzerland is home to an enormous amount of potential. ‘Studies have shown that huge volumes of by-products are created within Switzerland,’ says Selçuk Yildirim. ‘We’ve talked to 15 partners in the industry to explore how we can bring these by-products to market.’ Financial support from the Avina Foundation has enabled these ideas to be accelerated. Receiving funding from a foundation has a major perk, too, as Selçuk Yildirim explains: ‘Being funded by a foundation enables us to take the knowledge we gain and share it with every participant in the market. If we were working with a partner from the industry, they’d claim this knowledge for themselves.’ The researchers believe they’re in a position of great privilege. ‘We receive a wonderful amount of support,’ says Nadina Müller. ‘There are all kinds of options provided by the Federal Government, from Innosuisse to the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF).’ Numerous foundations support their work, as do donors from the food industry.
A topic that affects us all
In addition to all these different aspects relating to our food systems, Selçuk Yildirim notes that eating is primarily a cultural act and a source of pleasure: ‘And sometimes food simply tastes so good that we eat too much of it.’ Toya Bezzola believes that the cultural aspect also reflects our connection to the natural world – something we’ve lost. ‘We need to free ourselves from the narrative of efficient food,’ she believes.
And Lucas Grob’s key message is: ‘Eating is so intertwined with our lives. If we don’t all get to grips with this issue, it will be extremely difficult to make headway in terms of sustainable food and farming.’